Many consumer products, especially pharmaceutical products are required to provide information about the product and/or instructions on the use of the product with each package sold on the market. Square folded leaflets is the most common format for providing that information to the consumer and these may come in a variety of sizes. Leaflets are either inserted into the package or affixed to an outer portion of the package. Many machines have been developed to insert leaflets into containers by means of endless belts with clips which effectively carry and hold the leaflet until it is dumped into the container. Machines designed to affix leaflets to the outer part of a container are not as common and one must look at labeling machines to find devices that produce a similar result. However, labels are usually made of more resilient material than leaflets, are not folded, and one side is often coated with a strong glue. These machines are often complex and require that the container be held firmly when the label is applied to the outer part of the container. Machines designed to both insert leaflets into containers or affix leaflets to the outer part of containers are practically non-existing.
In all machines of the prior art, the mechanisms for feeding leaflets or labels to the dispensing area are unreliable and cumbersome and problems arise during operation. Leaflets may get misaligned or get caught and the production must be stopped to rearrange the stored leaflets. Leaflets are often stored and fed through a cartridge that features spring loaded elements to push the row of leaflets to the dispensing area. Once the cartridge is emptied, it must be replaced and reloaded and this operation may require that the machine be stopped.
Considering the wide application, especially in the pharmaceutical industry, of this type of apparatus, there is a demand for an leaflet dispensing apparatus better adapted to position leaflets either on a container or inside a container, that is compact, easy to operate and reliable.